Tune-sheet mechanism for automatic players of keyboard musical instruments.



PATENTED JULY 18, 1905.

, A. MAXFIBLD. TUNE SHEET MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC PLAYERS 0F KEYBOARD 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20, 1904.

No. 794,726. A A PATENTEI) .I-ULY 18,1905.

' A. MAXFIELD.

'TUNB SHEET MBSHANISM'PQR AUTOMATIC PLAYERS 0P KEYBOARD MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION TILED JUNE 20, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

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UNITED STATES v Iatented July 18, 1905 PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED MAXFIELD, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN PULLMAN, OF THE TROWLOOK, TEDDINGTON, ENGLAND.

TUNE-SHEET MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC PLAYERS OF KEYBOARD MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 794,726, dated July 18, 1905. Application filed June 20,1964. Serial No. 213,439.

To (LY/Z whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALFRED MAXFIELD, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at 326 Liverpool road, London, England, have invented a new and useful Improved Tune-Sheet Mechanism for Automatic Players of Keyboard Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to players for keyboard musical instruments, especially for pianos; and it has for its object certain improvements in the tune-sheet mechanismrendering possible the use in the same instrument of tune-sheets of more than one width 6. g., of fifty-eight and sixty-five notes, respectively-and also rendering possible the transposition of a piece of music from one key to another, as may be required, this latter possibility being especially useful when the instrument is used for accompanying the human voice.

In the accompanying drawings the tunesheet mechanism is shown in Figure 1, which is a front elevation thereof, and in Fig. 2, which is a cross-section on the line X X of Fig. 1, while Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the roller shown in elevation in Fig. 1.

In all players for musical instruments of the character here dealt with there is a pedaloperating mechanism, an arrangement of bellows, and gearing, &c., and the tune-sheet mechanism wherein the tune-sheets are caused to pass over a tracker-board, which latter is perforated with holes in order to allow air to be drawn inward when a perforation occurs in the tune-sheet passing over the tracker-board. The pedal-operating mechanism, gearing, bellows, 850., form no part of the present invention, and these may be constructed in any known or approved manner. The only arts with which this invention is concerne are the music-roll, the tracker-board, and the winding-on roll, with their supports and mountings.

Each tune-sheet has, of course, its own music-roll, and this is indicated by a in the drawings. The supports for this roll are a socket l), the stem of which passes through the framework c on the left-hand end and is pressed outward by a spring (1, which bears against a collar 6 on said stem. The spring d is held up by the casingf, attached to the frame 0. In place of the above-described arrangement any other. form of spring-socket may be employed.

At the right-hand end of the music-roll is an adjustable mechanism for supporting this latter. A rod g, having notches h in its upper surface, slides through the wall 0 and is adapted to be held in any one of a number of positions by means of a catch 1', pivoted at and adapted to engage in the notches h. A shaft I, also sliding through the wall a, has a socket or bearing in its end adapted to take the pin Z of the music-roll a. The end of shaft 7c is linked to rod 9 by a bar m, fixed to rod 9 by means of a cap n and engaging revolubly between collars 0 on shaft 76. The shaft is prolonged beyond the wall a and is connected with a brake mechanism and a rewinding mechanism, as is usual. These devices are not shown, as they form no part of the invention.

{1 is the tracker-board of usual construction, having the requisite number of ducts Q for playing a tune-sheet of sixty-five-note compass. At each end of the tracker-board is a slide 1, preferably'formed of thin metal and guided by a stem 8 in the wall 0. By sliding outward or inward the slides r a few of the ducts at the end of the tracker-board may be covered when requiredt. 6., when tune-sheets of a compass of fifty-eight notes only are being employed. The ends of the stems s, which may be soldered to the slides r, are preferably turned up, as shown at s, to form finger-pieces, whereby the slides may be easily moved.

The winding-on roller is mounted on shaft t at the front of the case, supported in suitable bearings a u on its ends and adapted to be driven by a gearing o of any desired construction. The roller proper is made in three parts, w, as, and y, all of which are free to slide longitudinally on the shaft t. The central part w carries the take-up hook z for the tune-sheet. In the shaft t is fixed a pin 2, passing through a slot 3 in part 1 and adapted to be engaged by a spring 4, having the same number of perforations as the bar h, Fig. 1, has notches. The spring 4 is held to the part 3 at 5 by means of studs or the like. In the face of the part 11 areeess is formed at'7 to receive the end of a spring 8, held, for instance, by means of screws 9. Said spring has at 10 one or more pins or projections adapted to engage in a slot 11, formed in the part to. The part at is also recessed to receive the end of spring 8, and it has near the front of the recess a pin 6, adapted to engage in one of two holes 12, formed in the spring 8.

The bar 9 and the spring 4: have their notches and holes, respectively, numbered. In the example shown there are eight notches h in the bar and eight holes in the spring 4.

The operation of the device is as follows: l/Vhen the apparatus is being used for playing fifty-eight-note tune-sheets in the key in which they are written, the catch i is placed in a particular notch in the bar gfor instance, the fifth notch from the end. The spring 4 is also placed to engage with the pin 2 at its corresponding hole-e. 9., the fifth. The parts w and as are brought together against the part 3 and the pin 6 engaging in one of the holes 12 holds the roller together, as shown in Fig. 1. In this position the apparatus is ready for playing the fifty-eight-note music in the normal kcy. Should it be required to transpose into higher or lower keys, this can be done through one or more semi tones or notes by adjusting the rod 9 inward or outward by one or more notches and adjusting the spring 4 on pin 2 to a corresponding position of engagement. W'hen sixtyfive-note tunesheets are to be played, the springiness of the sockets bis sufficient to al low of the insertion of the longer music-roll a. The corresponding adjustment of the winding-on roll is made by raising the end of spring 8 and moving outward the part 9; until its pin 6 engages in the hole 12 nearest the end of said spring. The central part w, with its take-up hook z, is moved to a central position and is still engaged by one or more pins 10 011 the spring 8 in order that it may rotate with the parts 1/ and 00. If adjustment were required for more than two different lengths of tunesheets, a corresponding number of holes 12 would be made in the spring 8 in the requisite positions for engaging with the pin 6.

WVhile thus describing the invention I desire to make it clear that the form of eon struction illustrated is intended to serve only as an example. The method of supporting the music-roll and of making adjustable the winding-on roll may be modified, as will be understood by manufacturers in many differ- 1 ent ways without departing from the scope l of the invention.

hat I claim isj 1. In a tune-sheet mechanism for automatic players of keyboard musical instruments the combination with the trackerboard, musicroll, and winding-on roll of means whereby said rolls may be adjusted longitudinally with respect to the trackerboard, and two duct-covering slides, one disposed at each end of the tracker-board, each so thin as to be capable of passing between the edges of the tune-sheets and the tracker board, and each capable of separate adjustment to cover one, two or more of the ducts at the ends of the tracker-board as may be required.

2. In a tune-sheet mechanism for automatic players of keyboard musical instru ments the combination with the trackerboard, music-roll, and winding-on roll of a spring-support for one end of the nmsic-roll, an adjustable support for the other end of said roll adapted to be set into a plurality of positions, means for adjusting the windingon roll longitudinally relatively to its shaft and with respect to the tracker-board to an extent corresponding to the adjustment of the support of the nmsic-roll, and means for adjusting the working length of the windingon roll.

3. In a tune-sheet mechanism for automatic players of keyboard musical instruments the combination with the trackerboard, nmsic-roll, and winding-on roll of a springsupport for one end of the nmsic-roll, a movable support for the other end of said roll, a rod adapted to slide longitudinally, means connecting said rod to the movable support, a plurality of notches in the rod, a catch adapted to engage any one of said notches and to hold the bar and adjustable support in any one of a plurality of positions, means for adjusting the winding-on rollv longitudinally relatively to its shaft and with respect tothe tracker-board to an extent corresponding to the adjustment of the support of the music-roll, and means for adjusting the Working length of the winding-on roll.

4. In a tune-sheet mechanism for automatic players of keyboard musical instruments the combination with the trackerboard, music-roll, and winding-on roll of a spring-support for one end of the music-roll, an adjustable support for the other end of said roll adapted to be set into a )lurality of positions, two duct-covering slic es one disposed at each end of the tracker-board, each so thin as to be capable of passing between the edges of the tune-sheets and the trackerboard, and each capable of separate adj ustment to cover one, two, or more of the ducts at the end of the tracker-board as may be re quired, and means whereby the winding-on roll may be adjusted longitudinally relatively to its shaft and with respect to the trackerboard to an extent corresponding to the adjustment of the support of the music-roll.

5. In a tune-sheet mechanism for automatic players of keyboard musical instruments the combination with the trackerboard, music-roll and winding-on roll, of a shaft adapted to support the winding-on roll, a pin on said shaft, a spring connected to the roll and having a plurality of perforations in any one of which said pin may be made to engage, substantially as for the object set forth.

6. In a tune-sheet mechanism for automatic players of keyboard musical instruments the combination with the trackerboard and music-roll, of a spring-support for one end of the music-roll, an adjustable support for the other end of said roll adapted to be set into a plurality of positions, a winding-on roll made in three principal parts, a shaft on which said parts are longitudinally movable, a spring on one end part having a plurality of holes therein, a pin on said shaft adapted to engage with any of said holes, a pin on the other end part of the roll, a second spring mounted on the first part and adapted to engage by one or more perforations over the latter pin and means for connecting the central part of the roll to revolve with the two end parts.

7 In a tune-sheet mechanism for automatic players of keyboard musical instruments the combination with the tracker board and music-roll of a spring-support for one end of the music-roll, an adjustable support for the other end of said roll adapted to be set into a plurality of positions, a winding-on roll made in three principal parts, a shaft on which said parts are longitudinally movable, a spring on one end part having a plurality of holes therein, a pin on said shaft adapted to engage with any one of said holes, a pin on the other end part of the roll, a second spring mounted on the first part and adapted to engage by one or more perforations over the latter pin, means for connecting the central part of the roll revolubly with the two end parts, and two duct-covering slides adapted to close as required one or moredof the ducts at the ends of the trackerboar 8. In a tune-sheet mechanism for automatic players of keyboard musical instruments the combination with the trackerboard and music-roll of means permitting of the adjustment of the music-roll longltudinally with respect to the tracker-board, a winding-on roll made in three principal parts, means for supporting said winding-on roll, means for adjusting one of said parts according to the adjustment of the music-roll and means for fixing another of said parts in a plurality of positions relative to the first part in order to vary the length of the winding-on roll.

9. In a tune-sheet mechanism for automatic players of keyboard musical instruments the combination with the trackerboard and music-roll of means permitting of the adjustment of the music-roll longitudinally with respect to the tracker-board, a winding-on roll made in three principalparts, means for supporting said winding-on roll, means for adjusting one of said parts according to the adjustment of the music-roll, means for fixing another of said parts in a plurality of positions relative to the first part in order to vary the length of the winding-on roll and two duct-covering slides adapted to close as required one or more of the ducts at the ends of the tracker-board.

10. In a tune-sheet mechanism for automatic players of keyboard musical instruments the combination with the trackerboard and music-roll, of means permitting of the adjustment of said music-roll longitudinally with respect to the tracker-board, a winding-on roll, means for supporting the latter, means for adjusting the winding-on roll longitudinally to correspond to the position of the music-roll and means for enabling the winding-on roll to be adjusted to a plurality of lengths whereby said roll is adapted to accommodate tune-sheets of varying breadths.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED MAXFIELD.

Witnesses:

H. D. JAMEsoN, F. L; RAND. 

